Managing Data With ViewModel In ASP.NET MVC

Then, select Empty, check MVC, then click OK.

Now, let’s create the model classes for both - Book and Customer.

Give that class the name “Book” and click OK.

Then, write the following code into it.

namespace ViewModelsDemo.Models
{
    public class Book
    {
        public int BookId { get; set; }
        public string BookName { get; set; }
    }
}

Now, repeat the same procedure to make another class named “Customer”. Write the following code into it.

namespace ViewModelsDemo.Models
{
    public class Customer
    {
        public int CustomerId { get; set; }
        public string CustomerName { get; set; }
    }
}

Now, make a Controller to handle the HTTP requests.

Then, select “MVC 5 Controller – Empty”.

And give a name as “HomeController”.

Place the following code into it.

using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Web.Mvc;
using ViewModelsDemo.Models;

namespace ViewModelsDemo.Controllers
{
    public class HomeController : Controller
    {
        public ActionResult Index()
        {
            var Book = new List<Book>()
            {
                new Book {BookName = "Programming in C#"},
                new Book {BookName = "Programming in C++"},
                new Book {BookName = "Programming in Java"}
            };

            var Customer = new List<Customer>()
            {
                new Customer {CustomerName = "Zain"},
                new Customer {CustomerName = "Hassan"},
            };

            return View();
        }
    }
}

In the above code, we’ve populated the model classes with data. Now it is time to make ViewModel. Conventionally create a folder into the project, and give it the name “ViewModels”. Look, ViewModel is simply a class having “ViewModel” as a suffix. So, create a class and give it the name “CustomerViewModel”. Place the following code into it.

using System.Collections.Generic;
using ViewModelsDemo.Models;

namespace ViewModelsDemo.ViewModels
{
    public class CustomerViewModel
    {
        public List<Book> Books { get; set; }
        public List<Customer> Customers { get; set; }
    }
}

Now, come back to the Controller and make an object of CustomerViewModel. Then, pass this object to the View. The complete code of HomeController carefully.

using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Web.Mvc;
using ViewModelsDemo.Models;
using ViewModelsDemo.ViewModels;

namespace ViewModelsDemo.Controllers
{
    public class HomeController : Controller
    {
        public ActionResult Index()
        {
            var Book = new List<Book>()
            {
                new Book {BookName = "Programming in C#"},
                new Book {BookName = "Programming in C++"},
                new Book {BookName = "Programming in Java"}
            };

            var Customer = new List<Customer>()
            {
                new Customer {CustomerName = "Zain"},
                new Customer {CustomerName = "Hassan"},
                new Customer {CustomerName = "Syed"}
            };

            var CustomerViewModel = new CustomerViewModel
            {
                Books = Book,
                Customers = Customer
            };

            return View(CustomerViewModel);
        }
    }
}

Now, make a View named “Index” in the “Home” folder of the Views folder and place the code.

@model ViewModelsDemo.ViewModels.CustomerViewModel
@{
    ViewBag.Title = "Index";
}

<h2>List of Books and list of Customers together</h2>

<h4>List of Books</h4>
<ul>
    @foreach (var book in Model.Books)
    {
        <li>
            @book.BookName
        </li>
    }
</ul>

<h4>List of Customers</h4>
<ul>
    @foreach (var customer in Model.Customers)
    {
        <li>
            @customer.CustomerName
        </li>
    }
</ul>

Simply build and run the application. You will see the following output.

Summary

In this article, you have learned what the ViewModel is, what are its uses, and how we can organize and maintain our code using ViewModel. In the end, you have seen the practical example of ViewModel. Hope it will help you.

Conclusion

I hope this article has helped you in understanding the concepts of ViewModel in ASP.NET MVC. Stay tuned for my next articles. If you have any queries, please feel free to contact me in the comments section. Also, do provide feedback whether positive or negative. It will help me to make my articles better and increase my enthusiasm to share my knowledge.